Refugee group hopeful despite opposition in Athens

Arts and Entertainment Reporter

The director of a plan to resettle refugees in Athens remains optimistic despite opposition from local leaders.

“I would still very much like to work together as partners here,” said International Rescue Committee Atlanta Director J.D. McCrary of his hope to bring refugees from war-torn countries to the area.

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Nancy Denson sent a letter last week to the state officials who control refugee resettlement in Georgia requesting that a plan by the Atlanta office of the International Rescue Committee to bring refugees to Athens be put on hold.

Denson worried that the presence of refugees might strain Athens’ already burdened social services and school system. Athens can offer very little outside of low-wage employment to the refugees, Denson said.

The mayor and other local leaders also expressed concern in recent interviews about adding to the area’s poverty level.

Upwards of 150 refugees, including men, women and children, were expected to resettle in Athens in 2015.

McCrary said 90 percent of refugees helped by the International Rescue Committee are self-sufficient within six months. In that time, he said, refugees rely on federal assistance and receive no monetary help from state or local governments.

Language education is provided by the IRC and funded by the federal government, he said. Refugees coming to Athens, McCrary said, speak languages already served by the Clarke County School District.

Georgia resettles an average of 2,500 refugees per year, according to the IRC. The state’s first-year refugees generate $40 million in income and contribute local, state and federal taxes.

Denson previously said the only jobs available to refugees would be low-paying, and having these new arrivals living at the poverty level was unacceptable.

“We don’t want to bring people here that won’t be successful,” she said.

While refugees are self-sufficient after six months, McCrary said they do hover around the poverty level.

“Are they earning middle-class wages? Of course not,” McCrary said.

Going from poverty to middle class takes longer than six months.

The biggest concern Denson and others had with the IRC plan was its time line. Resettlement was expected to begin in earnest in 2015, with the potential for some refugees arriving as soon as November.

McCrary said the true recipient of Denson’s letter was the U.S. Department of State, which approves all resettlement plans and disburses funds for them. The State Department decides Denson’s request will be considered.

For his part, McCrary said he submitted an application to the State Department earlier in the summer.

Denson said McCrary didn’t consult with the right local officials before doing so.

McCrary contends he tried for months to communicate with Athens officials. He said he mailed a letter to Denson in November 2013 detailing IRC’s plan for Athens.

The mayor said she never saw the letter.

The letter was also sent to Clarke County Board of Education, state and federal officials. Only state Sen. Frank Ginn responded and met with the IRC, McCrary said.

McCrary sent an email on March 14, 2014, to Denson and commissioners requesting a meeting to discuss the plan. Only commissioner Alison Wright responded to the email, according to correspondence shared with the Athens Banner-Herald.

Denson said the March email lacked details about the plan. Before receiving the email, Denson said she hadn’t heard of the IRC.

“There was nothing in the email that made it seem like it was something I needed to be concerned about,” Denson said Thursday.

An attachment sent in the email to the mayor and commission included a description of the IRC, the goals of the program and a quarter-by-quarter timeline to begin resettling refugees.

McCrary did meet with Clarke County Superintendent Philip Lanoue and representatives from the county Health Department in the spring, according to school district spokesperson Anisa Sullivan Jimenez.

“The school district is working collaboratively with the mayor and community members to best understand what the needs are, assess the potential impact to our community and how to move forth,” Lanoue said in a statement.

After receiving an initial response from Athens officials in July following multiple earlier attempts to reach someone, McCrary said he sent an email to Denson on Aug. 6, two days after meeting with the mayor for the first time.

“I apologize if this amount of communication was insufficient and it was certainly not my intention for this program to proceed without community input,” McCrary wrote.

McCrary told the Banner-Herald he’s received numerous phone calls and emails from Athenians and members of the UGA community expressing excitement about the resettlement plan.

The Athens area is not unfamiliar with refugees.

Jubilee Partners, an intentional Christian community in Madison County, houses newly-arrived refugees for short stays. The local poultry processing industry employs a number of refugees. Madison and Oglethorpe counties are home to dozens of Asian refugees.

McCrary said he expects to hear the State Department’s decision on the Athens resettlement plan in four to six weeks. He is not deterred by the reaction of Athens officials.

“The State Department has seen this type of community reaction before,” McCrary said. “This is nothing new for them. They understand the difference between elected officials and community hospitality. They’ll see that Athens is supportive of refugees.”